Saturday, November 29, 2008

Technically, first evening of snow. It rained all day, but turned into big, beautiful, bodacious, *snow*flakes. And the snowflakes even stuck! The Christmas lights on our house are shining brighter and there is a hush from the blanketing snow. All is calm, all is bright. We may have gotten an inch. Seth and Rebecca bundled up to go out and play, Rebecca squealing with glee (no other way to describe her joy!) at the fluffy stuff falling on her. The snow may melt tomorrow, but tonight it is magical. Beautiful. Ethereal. When I last looked outside, the snow had stopped, but now there is a soft shrouding fog as the cold air embraces the warm ground. The street lights are wearing halos.

I photographed more of my Moravian stars with a sprinkling of vintage pearl buttons. I glued buttons in the centers of the stars and plan to send these out in cards. This photo would make a lovely card, don't you think?

Friday, November 28, 2008

To ME! Victoria made me a lovely breakfast in bed this morning (everything was HOT!- cheese omlette, dry toast and HOT India Spiced Chai) and the tray contained these clever Lego flowers from the kids (too cute!) The funny multi-colored bar thing is a "plane" from Rebecca. Everyone should have their own private plane!

Why am I not smiling in my photo? No one has given me a birthday crown yet! Otherwise it is shaping up to be a nice relaxing day for me. I can always do housework again tomorrow!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Thursday, November 20, 2008

With Thanksgiving just a week away, I have had family a lot on my mind. My mom and siblings all live in other states so it is my in-laws I am closest to. I got a call from my brother-in-law a couple days ago that Thanksgiving will be at their house and Bob Evans is catering it so none of us have to cook. I was a little disappointed, because I love home cooking, but the best part will be to hang with the fam.

I am so thankful for my husband and kids. This year especially. We won't be having a big, extravagant Christmas, like some other years, so I am more sensitive to making it a more personal holiday. And it is starting with Thanksgiving. I am all for small gestures with big meanings this year. Maybe it's a good thing Bob is catering. I won't be in the kitchen fretting over green bean casserole or dinner rolls. I'll be squashed on the couch with my honey and kids as we watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on TV. A toast to family!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Victoria is twelve today. She asked me last night, "what time was I born at?" I thought it was 11:30 pm, her dad said, no, it was around 8:00 pm. Suffice to say that since Victoria is a stickler for details, she is not considering herself a full twelve years old until this evening. I am making chicken and broccoli alfredo for dinner since that is her all time favorite dish. And a store bought vanilla cake with vanilla ice cream on the side.

Kind of nice to have ONE dinner planned this week! :)

Happy Birthday, Victoria. I don't tell you enough that I love you and am very proud of the beautiful young lady you are growing up to be. Right now you vex me more often than not (no one has ever told me a positive thing about the tween and teen years except that you just weather the storm), but I cherish the times we actually work together, whether it's cooking in the kitchen or putting a 500 piece puzzle together. I look forward to the days ahead watching as you bloom and grow. The transformation from baby to toddler to little girl to young lady has been amazing and frightening to watch and the best is yet to come. You are always a blessing, even when you bring out the worst in me, because it is only then when I realize where I still need to grow.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

...Not as I do. Hahaha! A little explaination. First off, I am pleased to see that I am NOT the only one who would like to savor that forgotten period between Halloween and Christmas. I call Thanksgiving "that speed bump holiday" on the way to Christmas. Funny thing is, that no sooner did I post my rant (previous post), than I fell into some Christmas making projects (yes, I am a hypocrite- shhhh, don't tell anyone!). The temperatures have been below 40*F. so I have been cocooning and crafting is my natural response to being stuck indoors.

So first, I created these hymnal paper Moravian stars (scroll down to Nov. 20 post) for an ornament swap with Christian Paper Artists. Only this year I played with adding a dangle thingy and discovered the no-glue method of embellishing with junk jewelry. Just punch a hole with the post of the earring and punch through, fastening with th earring's back. No jump rings required either since dangle earrings naturally come with a way to hang them (genius!!!)! I am very pleased with how my ornaments turned out.

Part two of "do as I say, not as I do" is, when you are in a swap, please complete the swap in a timely manner (speaking as a hostess who has waited on stuff to arrive)! The altered paint can pictured is my VERY late swap to Donna K. who is also hosting the ornament swap so I am trying to kill two birds with one stone (or pack two things in one box for mailing). I took part in an "altered item" swap, a year ago almost to the day, and failed to complete it in a timely manner. Donna sent me a gleaming silver paint can for me to alter and return to her and I suffered creative block, then procrastinated about dealing with it. I took part in other swaps and all the time carried the shame of not completing this one altered swap. Donna had said she understood and just figured I would get it done when I got it done. I'm sure she wasn't thinking she would have to wait a whole year though! I'm sure she has given up on ever seeing her paint can-- ever again. And I'm sure I hold the record for the latest swap ever turned in!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

The day after Halloween I was in Walmart for something and heard CHRISTMAS CAROLS playing in the store already! It offended my senses. Maybe I was hung over from Halloween candy, maybe I was a tad bit sleep deprived, but the sound of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" made me want to vomit. So I'm here to rant about not rushing the seasons and the holidays, even though the retailers would have us do so.

So in honor of my favorite seasons, AUTUMN, I made a card to send to a friend. The lovely paper models were cut from a vintage Simplicity pattern, glued onto a piece of marbled paper (from my coptic stitching friend Cindy), which in turn was glued down on an ugly

non-profit greeting card that had a barnwood scene on it (perfect to let peek around the edges). Embellishments are vintage seam binding lace and self stick felt leaves sent to me from friend Jennie who I am making this card for.

So go create something fall-ish, if not enjoy the day crunching through the newly fallen leaves, smell the wood smoke on the air and feel the autumn gale blowing (it's verywindy outside my window today!) Happy Fall to you all!

Monday, November 3, 2008

Like the past two years, we started the evening by driving to Higginsville (8 miles away) for trick or treating at the businesses on Main Street, where Grandma's real estate office is. The event started a half hour earlier than last year so we were trick or treating in daylight. It was a slow, tiring shuffle up and down the street getting the same candy from each business (the business association provides each storefront the majority of the candy). Victoria (12) kept saying, too loudly, "this is BORING! I am SO bored!" I personally was SO glad to make it back to my mother-in-law's office so we could go home. The sun set as we drove back into Corder so as we approached our house, we could finally see the synthetic, lightbulb illuminated jack-o-lantern I had left in our front window to greet guests. Although we had been out an hour already, the night felt like it was just beginning.

I had only meant for us to trick or treat down our street and come home, because I didn't expect many people to be passing out treats. But since it was a beautiful night (clear sky, 65*F.) and we had joined up with some aquaintences in front of our house, our laughing and visiting took us to the end of the street in no time and turned us east to the other side of town. A lot of houses were dark, but those that were lit up rewarded us with happy greetings, exclaimations over the cute costumes and hand fulls of treats or generously pre-packed treat bags. I had heard that the number of trick or treaters dwindled every year so folks didn't worry about rationing their candy. Great for us!

The dimly lit streets and uneven, or absent sidewalks made walking at night a thrilling adventure. Rebecca stumbled over her princess gown twice, the second time hard enough that I had to carry her a little, but as soon as she saw the next glowing porch light, she recovered and wanted her pumpkin bucket so she could continue begging candy. We only visited a dozen houses, but it took a lot of walking in between and the kids' treat buckets filled quickly, and conseqently got heavy, so we were tired after just an hour. Seth even stopped going up to houses with his sisters because his legs hurt. Now that's a tired kid when he's lost enthusiasm for getting candy! Ha! We had met neighbors we only knew from sight (but would know better now) and experienced a Halloween like the old days when kids were invited into a house, without fear, to admire spooky decor and pick out treats. We only covered a small part of town, but as we headed home, the kids and I talked about next year skipping boring Higginsville and trick or treating on our home turf. Although the night's walk was invigorating, and surely helped burn off the candy bars I ate earlier in Higginsville, next year I will involve the car!

Nathalie B. Thompson

"If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing." --Benjamin Franklin

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